Arizona law on picking judges challenged

A lawsuit filed on behalf of members of a state judicial nominating commission challenges a new state law changing how Arizona selects judges for its appellate courts.

The Arizona Republic reports that the lawsuit filed Friday says the law is unconstitutional because it effectively would change part of the Arizona Constitution without submitting a proposed amendment to voters.

The law being challenged increases the minimum number of nominees for each vacancy to five from three, the current constitutional requirement.

The Legislature approved the legislation in April, and Gov. Jan Brewer signed it into law.

Republican Rep. Justin Piece of Mesa sponsored the legislation. He says it is constitutional because the commission still can nominate fewer than five candidates to the governor if there’s a two-thirds vote to do that.

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